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Home , Heiltsuk, Kutenai, Lummi, Lushootseed, Nuxalk, Salish Kootenai College

Salish words for ‘black bear’ and ‘grizzly bear’1

Jan P. van Eijk University of

Salish languages show a wide variety of names for ‘black bear’ and ‘grizzly bear.’ A number of these are doubtless of great antiquity and some of them may go back to Proto-Salish. However, reconstruction of the proto-forms seems problematic in light of inter-Salish and extra-Salish borrowing and of what appears to be rather massive taboo- driven lexical replacement.

1 Introduction

The homeland of the Salish-speaking people, which stretches from southern into northern , and , and formerly also into part of the Oregon coastal area, falls within the range of two types of bear that are native to , the black bear (Ursus americanus) and the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis). In this article, we list the names of these bears in those Salish languages for which they have been recorded, and we try to trace their etymological history.

2 Individual languages

In this section, the words for ‘black bear’ and ‘grizzly bear’ are listed for each language, and, where applicable, for individual . Dialects are indicated with a long dash under their respective languages. However, in the case of Kalispel and Flathead (listed under Spokane), the long dash indicates that these linguistic entities are part of a continuum with Spokane, and not dialects of Spokane. Comments on details and provenance of the various forms are given in sections 3-5. In the table on pp. 2-3, words in the Amerindianist Phonetic Alphabet (APA) are sans-serif and roman, while the pre-APA forms are serif and roman. In the running text, however, APA words are serif and roman, while the pre-APA forms are serif and italic. Forms in the Amerindianist transcription are standardized and may in that respect deviate from the way in which they are transcribed in the original sources. (For example, the voiceless uvular is written x̌ , also where the original

1 Thanks are due to Henry Davis, who presented an earlier version of this paper for me at the 44th International Conference on Salish and Neighbouring Languages, held in Pablo, Montana, and to Brent Galloway, Steve Egesdal, John Lyon and Peter Jacobs for providing crucial data and insightful comments. The responsibility for this paper remains my own.

13 source has x.̣ Prefixes are marked with a following period, and with a preceding hyphen.)

Language Black Bear Grizzly Bear Bella Coola ƛ̕a nan Comox —Sliammon míx̌aɬ —Island míx̌aɬ x̌áwgas Pentlatch sx̌ʷəsə́lqin x̌áywas Sechelt s.čə́txʷn (1) máyukʷ (2) xaū’gyas, xaū’gˑas Squamish míx̌aɬ (1) sƛ̕əɬálm (2) s.k̕ʷí-ʔačn (3) s.k̕ʷíyəčən (spirit power name) —Upriver s.pέ:θ (1) xəyƛ̌ έ̕ ls (2) k̕ʷí:cəl —Musqueam s.péʔeθ k̕ʷέy-əcən —Nanaimo k’ō′yētsin —Cowichan s.péʔeθ k̕ʷέy-əcən Nooksack s.páʔac (1) k̕ʷíyačin, k̕ʷiyíčin (2) q̓ʷəyíčən Northern Straits —Songish (1) s.péʔes k’ō′yētcin (2) s.čét̕xʷʌn — s.čə́txʷən q̓ʷéy-əčən —Saanich nəq̓ix̌ s.peʔəθ k̕ʷəyečən — s.péʔes k̕ʷéyəčn ‘(mountain) lion’

Klallam s.čkʷáy(ə)c̓ (1) k̕ʷəyéʔčən (2) k̕ʷəy-əč —Skagit s.páʔc s.təbtábəl ̕ —Snohomish s.čə́txʷəd s.təbtábəl ̕ —Southern s.čə́txʷəd s.čátqɬəb c̕íʔwəɬ s.čátqɬəb Quinault s.čə́txʷən Lower Chehalis čə́txʷən ̓ xai.gō′s ‘lynx’

14 Upper Chehalis —Oakville s.čə́txʷn ̓ (1) s.mə́š (2) s.čátqɬm ̓ (3) x̌iwóʔs ‘bobcat’ —Satsop .stci′tEhwun —Tenino k·ι′twυn χeiwυ′s Cowlitz s.čə́txʷn ̓ (1) wít̕aš (2) .smê΄c Tillamook- míx̌aɬ s.ƛ̕aɬáləm Shuswap (1) kn-keknm (1) s.km̓xís (2) s.kʷl-eqs (2) kəknm-eɬp (taboo name for s.km̓xís) (3) s.t.kʷy-k̕ʷəy ‘silvertip grizzly’ Thompson s.péʔec (1) səxʷ-súxʷ (2) s.t.k̕ʷik̕ʷy-éytxʷ ‘silvertip grizzly’ Columbian míx̌aɬ s.təm̓tám̓əl ̕ Okanagan s.kmxist s.mx-ikň ̓ Spokane n.ɬám-qeʔ s.mx-éy-čň —Kalispel n.ɬám-qeʔ s.əmx̌éʔičən ̓ —Flathead n.ɬám-qeʔ s.əmx̌é Coeur d’Alene n.ɬámqeʔ s.max̌íʔčn ̓

3 Comments

Comments are given for each language that is listed in section 2, in the order given there. The Bella Coola () data are from Nater 1977 and Nater 1990. As is indicated in the 1977 source, both ƛ̕a and nan are borrowings from (northern) Wakashan (cf. ƛ̕a and nán). Peter Jacobs (p.c.) informs me that nan is the ceremonial rather than the colloquial form for ‘grizzly bear’ in Kwak’wala. Lincoln and Rath 1980 do indeed list a second root, gla-, for ‘grizzly bear’ in Northern Wakashan, but do not indicate wheter this form, or nan, is the ceremonial or colloquial form. The Comox data are from Kinkade 1991a, with the Sliammon form provided by John Davis, and the Island forms by Jan Timmers. The form míx̌ aɬ for ‘black bear’ is also attested for Squamish, Lillooet and Columbian, and is one of the two forms reconstructed by Kinkade for Proto-Salish, as *míx̌ aɬ. The form x̌ áwgas is also attested (with variations) for Pentlatch, Sechelt, Lower

15 Chehalis, and the Oakville and Tenino dialects of Upper Chehalis. It goes back to one of the two forms reconstructed by Kinkade for Proto-Salish, as *x̌ aywús. The Pentlatch forms are kindly provided to me by Brent Galloway, while x̌ áywas for ‘grizzly bear’ is also in Kinkade 1991a and is his retranscription of two earlier transcriptions by Boas (both provided by Kinkade). The form sxʷəsə́ lqin for ‘black bear’ is unique to Pentlatch (although related to the Squamish word for ‘mountain goat,’ see below), but x̌ áywas is related to forms in Comox, Sechelt, Lower Chehalis, and two dialects of Upper Chehalis (see preceding paragraph). The Sechelt forms s.čə́ txʷn and máyukʷ are from Timmers 1977, while xaū′gyas and xaū′g·as are from Kinkade 1991a, who credits a source indicated as ‘CV.’ The form s.čə́ txʷn is also attested in the Songish and Lummi dialects of Northern Straits, in the Snohomish dialect of Lushootseed and the southern dialects of that language, and in Quinault, Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis and Cowlitz. The form máyukʷ is unique to Sechelt. For xaū′gyas and xaū′g·as and their cognates and Proto-Salish form see the section on Comox above. The source of Squamish míx̌ aɬ and sƛ̕əɬálm is Kuipers 1967, while s.k̕ ʷí-ʔačn is from Kuipers 1969 and commented on there as a ‘rarer synonym of sƛ̕əɬáləm.’ The form s.k̕ ʷíyəčən is from Kinkade 1991a and provided to him by Bouchard and Kennedy. For the cognates and proto-form of míx̌ aɬ see the section on Comox above. The form sƛ̕əɬáləm is also attested for Lillooet. The forms s.k̕ ʷí-ʔačn and s.k̕ ʷíyəčən are also attested for Halkomelem (various dialects), Nooksack, Northern Straits (various dialects), , Shuswap and Thompson. Peter Jacobs has kindly drawn my attention to the fact that Squamish also has the form síʔ-sinƛ̕ (literally ‘eldest sibling’) for grizzly bear, obviously a taboo term. (Kuipers 1967:304 mentions this term as well, but without the translation ‘eldest sibling,’ and with the stress unmarked.) Jacobs also informs me that the Pentlatch form for ‘black bear’ (sx̌ ʷəsə́ lqin) is related to the Squamish word for ‘mountain goat,’ s.x̌ ʷu-x̌ ʷsə́-l-qn̕ (also listed in Kuipers 1967:371, without the nominalizer s and derived from x̌ ʷəs ‘be fat’). Interestingly, Steve Egesdal informs me that among the Flathead “only the most spiritually able men would hunt grizzly (or mountain goat)” (e-mail, 13-04- 2009), providing a grizzly/mountain goat relation that parallels the black bear/mountain goat relation in Squamish/Pentlatch. The Upriver Halkomelem forms are from Galloway 2009. The form s.pέ:θ for ‘black bear’ is also attested for the Musqueam and Cowichan dialects, for the Songish, Saanich and Samish dialects of Northern Straits, for the Skagit dialect of Lushootseed, for Nooksack and for Thompson. The form x̌ əyƛ̕έls for ‘grizzly bear’ seems to be limited to Upriver Halkomelem, while k̕ ʷí:cəl is related to other Halkomelem dialects and to the languages listed in the Squamish section above. Galloway also lists s.x̌ ə́:ylmət and s.x̌ ə́:ylmàt for respectively ‘male black bear with white chest spot’ and ‘female black bear with white chest spot,’ c.kʷím s.pέ:θ or c.kʷím-əlqəl s.pέ:θ for ‘brown bear,’ c̕ɛwəyí:ləs for ‘brown bear with a white chest,’ yəqʷ-íl-mət or s.yəqʷ-íl-mətxʷ for ‘male grizzly bear’ and yəqʷ-íl-mət-əlàt for ‘female grizzly bear,’ but none of these seem to

16 have etymological relations with any of the forms for ‘black bear’ or ‘grizzly bear’ in the other Salish languages. The Musqueam and Cowichan forms for ‘black bear’ are from Kuipers 2002. For their etyma elsewhere see the note on Upriver Halkomelem above. The Musqueam, Nanaimo and Cowichan forms for ‘grizzly’ are all from Kinkade 1991a, with the original sources given there. All three forms are related to Squamish s.k̕ ʷí-ʔačn and the etyma referenced there. The Nooksack forms s.páʔac and k̕ ʷíyačin, k̕ ʷiyíčin are from Galloway 2008, while q̓ ʷəyíčən for ‘grizzly bear’ is from Kinkade 1991a. The form s.páʔac is related to the etyma referenced under Upriver Halkomelem, while k̕ ʷíyačin, k̕ ʷiyíčin and q̓ ʷəyíčən are related to Squamish s.k̕ ʷí-ʔačn and s.k̕ ʷíyəčən and their cognates. The presence of q̓ ʷ instead of k̕ ʷ i n q̓ ʷəyíčən is puzzling (as it is in the Lummi form). As for Northern Straits, the Songish form spéʔes for ‘black bear’ is from Kuipers 2002, while s.čét̕ xʷʌn (and k’ō′yētcin for ‘grizzly’) are from Kinkade 1991a, which is also the source of the Lummi forms for both bears. The Saanich forms are from Montler 1991 (the word nəq̓ ix̌ in Saanich nəq̓ ix̌ s.peʔəθ means ‘black’), and the Samish forms from Galloway 1990. The Songish form s.péʔes and its Saanich and Samish cognates are related to the etyma listed under Upriver Halkomelem, while Songish s.čét̕ xʷʌn and Lummi s.čétxʷən are related to the cognates given in the Sechelt section. The forms for ‘grizzly bear’ in all four Northern Straits dialects are related to the cognates in the Squamish section, with unexpected q̓ ʷ in the Lummi form (see also Nooksack above). The semantic shift in Samish from ‘grizzly’ to ‘(mountain) lion’ is similar to the shift to ‘lynx’ in Lower Chehalis and to ‘bobcat’ in one form in the Oakville dialect of Upper Chehalis. The Klallam forms s.čkʷáy̓ (ə)c and k̕ ʷəyéʔčən are from Montler 2000, while k̕ ʷəy-əč is from Kinkade 1991a (who credits ‘MSF’). The form s.čkʷáy̓ (ə)c for ‘black bear’ does not seem to have cognates in other Salish languages, while the two forms for ‘grizzly bear’ are attested for the languages given in the Squamish section above. The source of all Lushootseed forms given above is Hess 1976. The Skagit form s.páʔc for ‘black bear’ is also attested for Upriver Halkomelem and the languages listed in that section, while s.čə́ txʷəd is related to Sechelt and the languages listed there. The form s.təbtábəl ̕ for ‘grizzly bear’ is also attested for Columbian, while s.čátqɬəb has cognates in Twana and the Oakville dialect of Upper Chehalis. The Twana forms were kindly provided to me by Nile Thompson. The form c̕íʔwəɬ for ‘black bear’ seems to have no cognates in Salish, while s.čátqɬəb has reflexes in Southern Lushootseed and the Oakville dialect of Upper Chehalis. The Quinault form for ‘black bear’ is from Kinkade 1991a (who credits ‘JAG,’ i.e., Gibson 1964). It is related to the Sechelt form and further cognates listed there. At this point I do not have the Quinault form for ‘grizzly bear.’ Kinkade 1991a is also the source for the Lower Chehalis items. The form for ‘black bear’ is related to the Sechelt form and to etyma in the languages

17 listed there, while xai.gō′s ‘grizzly bear’ (with a semantic shift to ‘lynx’) is related to Island Comox and forms in the languages listed there. The Upper Chehalis forms are all from Kinkade 1991a and 1991b. The forms for ‘black bear’ are all related to each other (with the Tenino dialect maintaining the original *k) and to forms in the languages listed in the Sechelt section. Of the forms for ‘grizzly,’ the Oakville form s.mə́ š is related to in Cowlitz .smê΄c, while s.čátqɬm̓ is related to forms in Southern Lushootseed and Twana, and x̌ iwóʔs (with a semantic shift to ’bobcat’) and Tenino χeiwυ′s are related to Comox x̌ áwgas and the etyma referenced there. The Cowlitz forms are all from Kinkade 1991a and 2004. The form s.čə́ txʷn for ‘black bear’ is related to Sechelt s.čə́ txʷn and to the other forms referenced there. Of the forms for ‘grizzly,’ wít̕ as does not seem to have any Salish etyma, while .smê΄c is related to Upper Chehalis (Oakville dialect) s.mə́ š. At this point in time I do not have access to any Tillamook-Siletz forms. Since Kinkade 1991a does not list them, we may presume that, whatever they are, they do not go back to any of the Proto-Salish forms that Kinkade reconstructs. The Lillooet forms are from my own research. The form míx̌ aɬ for ‘black bear’ is related to the Comox, Squamish and Columbian forms, while s.ƛ̕aɬáləm for ‘grizzly’ is unique to Squamish and Lillooet. The Shuswap forms are from Kuipers 1974. The form kn-keknm for ‘black bear’ is unique to Shuswap, though possibly related to ken-m ‘to do what/something’ (as noted by Kuipers) and in that case probably originally used as an evasive taboo term. It is also related to keknm-eɬp, the taboo term for ‘grizzly,’ which Kuipers notes as recorded for the Deadman’s Creek dialect. The form s-kʷl-eqs translated as ‘brown bear’ (a type of black bear) and recorded for Deadman’s Creek and only. Kuipers analyzes this form as derived from √kwal ‘yellow, green’ (and -eqs presumably ‘animal skin (?),’ Kuipers 1974:67), the meaning ‘yellow’ obviously referring to the light brown (cinnamon) colour of this bear’s fur. Kuipers also notes that the full form is the origin of the place name Squilax (for which also see Akrigg and Akrigg 1986:286). The form skm̓ x̌ ís is related to the Okanagan word for ‘black bear,’ s.kmx̌ ist, while s.t.kʷy-k̕ ʷey is related to Squamish s.k̕ ʷí-ʔačn and etyma in the languages listed there. The Thompson forms are from Thompson and Thompson 1996. The form s-péʔec for ‘black bear’ is related to Upriver Halkomelem and etyma referenced there, while s.t.k̕ ʷik̕ ʷy-éytxʷ for ‘silvertip grizzly’ has cognates referenced in the Squamish section. The form səxʷ-súxʷ is unique to Thompson and is tentatively linked by Thompson and Thompson to √súxʷ ‘secret/ /mysterious.’ Of the Columbian forms (both from Kinkade 1981), míx̌ aɬ is related to Comox and etyma referenced in that section, while s.təm̓ tám̓ əl̕is related to Skagit and Snohomish s.təbtábəl.̕ The Okanagan forms are both from Mattina 1987, with s.kmxist being related to Shuswap s.km̓ xís ‘grizzly,’ and s.mx̌ -ikn̓ to forms in Spokane- Kalispel-Flathead, and Coeur d’Alene. Mattina 1987:314 also lists kiʔláwnaʔ

18 for ‘male grizzly bear,’ the source of the name of the town Kelowna. It does not seem to have etyma in other Salish languages, although (as mentioned to me by John Lyon) it may be related to the form for ‘grizzly bear,’ which Boas 1918:364 lists as kɬáwɬa. The source of the Spokane forms is Carlson and Flett 1989, while the Kalispel forms are from Vogt 1940, and the Flathead forms for ‘black bear’ and ‘grizzly’ are from Rockwell 2008 and Flathead Culture Committee 1977 respectively. The Spokane and Kalispel forms for ‘black bear’ are related to Coeur d’Alene, while the forms for ‘grizzly’ in these dialects, and in Flathead, are related to Okanagan, and to Coeur d’Alene. The Coeur d’Alene forms are retranscribed from Reichard 1939. The form for ‘black bear’ is related to the Spokane and Kalispel forms, while the form for ‘grizzly’ is also attested for Okanagan and Spokane-Kalispel-Flathead.

4 Etymologies and diffusion

As the data in section 2, and their discussion in section 3, indicate, there is a bewildering variety of forms for the two types of bear in Salish, with a rather large number being limited to just one or two languages. Two factors account for this variety: (1) borrowing, and (2) taboo replacement. As for the first factor, the Bella Coola forms are obviously borrowed from Wakashan (as mentioned in section 3) and they can immediately be excused from any attempt to include them in the Proto-Salish reconstruction of the forms for ‘black bear’ and ‘grizzly.’ As for the second factor, Shuswap kəknm-eɬp and Squamish síʔ- sinƛ̕ are explicitly recognized as taboo terms for ‘grizzly,’ while kn-keknm for ‘black bear’ probably also falls in that category. There are also many cases where it is not clear which of the two factors apply. For example, if Squamish sƛ̕əɬálm and Lillooet s.ƛ̕aɬáləm do not go back to a Proto-Salish form that is now lost in the other languages, are they borrowed from a now lost substratum or do they go back to a now irretraceable taboo form? Reconstructing the Proto-Salish forms for ‘black bear’ and grizzly bear’ seems therefore a rather daunting undertaking. Nevertheless, and as indicated in section 3, Kinkade 1991a reconstructs two forms for each type of bear. We will discuss them here in turn. For one of the forms of ‘black bear’ Kinkade sets up *míx̌ aɬ, attested for both dialects of Comox, and for Squamish, Lillooet and Columbian. Kuipers 2002:70 concurs in reconstructing *míx̌ aɬ, but also points out a possible connection to the Okanagan, Spokane-Kalispel-Flathead and Coeur d’Alene forms for ‘grizzly,’ with reference to (Colville) Okanagan √mx̌ ‘to stoop.’ The Okanagan etc. forms then would refer to the grizzly’s head being lowered in relation to the hump on its back (-ikn̓ , -éy-čn, etc.). In the case of the black bear the lowering is less pronounced but still noticeable. With regard to the possible connection between bear names and ‘stooping,’ Kuipers also mentions Squamish (ʔə)sqʷúqʷus ‘sneak, have head lowered between shoulders’ and qʷúqʷusam ‘porcupine.’

19 Kuipers’s suggestion is also supported by the fact that aɬ in míx̌ aɬ may be an old , possibly related to –eɬp in Shuswap kəknm-eɬp or to the Lillooet ‘compound connector’ –aɬ- in, for example, ləp̓ -aɬ-k̕ ʷúnaʔ ‘buried (and cured) salmon eggs’ (√ləp̓ - to bury,’ k̕ ʷúnaʔ ‘salmon eggs’). However, if *míx̌ aɬ does refer to the stooped profile of the black bear, we would have a description of its appearance that is characteristic of taboo terms, and as such *míx̌ aɬ is probably not the earliest Proto-Salish form for ‘black bear.’ (In the same way, Okanagan s.mx̌ -ikn̓ ‘grizzly’ and its Spokane-Kalispel-Flathead and Coeur d’Alene cognates, are probably also taboo terms.) Finally, Kinkade (1995:34) suggests that míx̌ aɬ may be a loan from Lillooet into Comox and Squamish, rather than be a Proto-Salish form, and he comments that “The fact that both Lillooet and Columbian have cognates here suggests that the form is old in Interior Salish.” The other Proto-Salish form reconstructed by Kinkade for ‘black bear’ is *s.kə́ txʷan̓, with *s.čə́ txʷən as the Proto-Central Salish form, attested for Sechelt, the Songish and Lummi dialects of Northern Straits, and Snohomish and the southern dialects of Lushootseed, and *s.kə́ txʷan̓ (identical to the Proto- Salish form) as the Proto-Tsamosan Salish form, attested for all languages in that branch, viz., Quinault, Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, and Cowlitz. Kuipers 2002:140 reconstructs *s.kətxʷn as the Proto-Coast-Salish form, but lists only the Sechelt, Lushootseed and (Oakville) Upper Chehalis forms. There seems to be a minor problem with the Songish form s.čét̕ xʷʌn in that it is the only one that has a glottazized t̕ instead of plain t. However, as Kuipers (2002:237) points out, Mitchell 1968, which is the source of this item, contains some possible recording errors, and this is doubtless one of them. A more serious problem with *s.kə́ txʷan̓ (*s.kətxʷn) is that it is only attested for the Coast and Tsamosan branches of Salish. The linguistic difference between these two branches (and their probable difference in time depth) is indeed substantial, but their geographic contiguity, plus the fact that both fall within the Northwest Coast culture area (Driver 1969:570, Map 2) makes diffusion a strong possibility, and therefore calls reconstruction of *s.kə́ txʷan̓ (*s.kətxʷn) as the proto-form for all of Salish into question. The first Proto-Salish form reconstructed by Kinkade for ‘grizzly bear’ is *x̌ aywús, attested for Island Comox, Pentlatch, as an older form for Sechelt, for Lower Chehalis (where it means ‘lynx’), one form in Oakville Upper Chehalis (where it means ‘bobcat’), and Tenino Upper Chehalis. Kuipers 2002, however, does not have this or a similar reconstruction for ‘grizzly bear,’ and it is indeed a matter of Salish etymological concern that this item, like *s.kə́ txʷan̓ and its reflexes, is limited to the and Tsamosan branches. Kinkade reconstructs *k̕ ʷayá as the second Proto-Salish form for ‘grizzly bear,’ attested for Squamish, all dialects of Halkomelem, Nooksack, all dialects of Northern Straits, Klallam, Shuswap and Thompson. However, Kinkade gives this form a , and this reconstruction is indeed problematic in that it competes with an alternate form given in Kuipers 2002:51, viz., *k̕ ʷəy ‘frosty, grizzly.’ This reconstruction, and certainly its two-fold meaning, makes eminent sense in that in most cases where reflexes of *k̕ ʷəy are

20 attested in terms for the grizzly, they combine with the suffix for ‘back’ (*-ik(n) in Kuipers 2002:204), the entire complex then referring to the fact that “Grizzlies often show a whitish wash over the shoulders, which is rare in black bears” (Cowan and Guiguet n.d.:290). Where the suffix for ‘back’ is lacking, viz., in the third Shuswap form and the second Thompson form, the form refers to ‘silvertip grizzly,’ i.e., whitish hairtips which are found in a number of grizzlies and gives them the appearance from which they derive their name (cf. Cowan and Guiguet n.d.:295). If the forms that Kinkade lists under *k̕ ʷayá indeed go back to *k̕ ʷəy (instead of *k̕ ʷayá) and as such refer to the appearance of the grizzly (i.e., either its over-all grizzly-whitish appearance, or the white wash over its shoulders), these forms too, like s.mx̌ -ikn̓ in Okanagan, are probably taboo forms and as such unlikely candidates for Proto-Salish provenance. As is noted above, the second Nooksack form and the Lummi form for ‘grizzly’ have q̓ ʷ where the other dialects and languages have k̕ ʷ (in those forms that derive from *k̕ ʷayá or *k̕ ʷəy). The presence of q̓ ʷ could be due to misrecordings, but the fact that the Nooksack form was recorded by Laurence Thompson and the Lummi form by Melville Jacobs (identified as ‘LCT’ and ‘MJ’ by Kinkade) makes this unlikely. Salish velar-uvular correspondences, though rare, do occur (as in *x/x̌ am ‘dry,’ Kuipers 2002:118). It is also quite well possible that the forms with q̓ ʷ are old borrowings from those dialects that have k̕ ʷ, with the latter misheard as q̓ ʷ. In this connection one may think of Lillooet k̕ ʷúnaʔ ‘salmon roe’ and cognates in Upriver Halkomelem, Lower Chehalis, Thompson and Shuswap, with Lillooet and Upriver Halkomelem showing k̕ ʷ and the others q̓ ʷ (for details see Kinkade 1995:44). These forms are likely borrowed from Athapaskan q̓ uˑnʔ ‘roe’ (Krauss 1985:485), with now extinct Nicola being the most probable source. In addition to the two proto-forms for ‘bear’ given by Kinkade, Kuipers 2002:222 also reconstructs *s.paʔc as the proto-form for the items in Halkomelem, Songish, Saanich, Samish, Skagit and Thompson (under ‘Local Coast Salish, Lillooet, Thompson Elements’). Kinkade 1995:35 lists this item as a borrowing from Coast Salish into Thompson, through (Upriver) Halkomelem. Kuipers 2002:225 reconstructs *sƛ̕əɬalm for the shared Squamish- Lillooet term for ‘grizzly’ (also under ‘Local Coast Salish, Lillooet, Thompson Elements’). Kinkade 1995:40 lists this item as a borrowing between these two languages, with the direction of the borrowing being unclear. Kuipers 1967:291 suggests a possible connection between the Squamish item and √ɬal, ɬəl ‘food, livelihood; breath,’ or (less probable, according to Kuipers) s.ƛ̕álqm ‘monster.’ If either of these connections holds, Squamish must be the source of this shared Squamish-Lillooet item, since Lillooet has no plausible internal etyma that would parallel those in Squamish. Kuipers also notes that √ɬal always has the shape ɬal-m when it occurs as a suffix. This leaves open the intriguing possibility that the element ƛ̕ə in sƛ̕əɬálm is a borrowing from Wakashan (as in Bella Coola), the whole complex then meaning something like ‘food from a bear,’ used as a hunter’s taboo.

21 Kinkade 1995:41 classes the Skagit and Snohomish term for ‘grizzly bear,’ s.təbtábəl̕ and its Columbian counterpart s.təm̓ tám̓ əl̕as a borrowing between these two languages, with the direction of the borrowing being unclear. It is quite well possible that the common ancestor of both forms goes back to Proto-Salish *s-tam ‘what?, something’ (Kuipers 2002:104), in which case we would have yet another taboo term. There are also items that are shared between contiguous languages and that are not commented on by Kinkade or Kuipers, because these items are clearly local developments and cannot be plausibly reconstructed for Proto- Salish, nor are they examples of the type of transmontane borrowing that is discussed in Kinkade 1995. In the first place, there is Southern Lushootseed s.čátqɬəb which has cognates in Twana and in the Oakville dialect of Upper Chehalis. The etymology of this item is unclear. Another item is Oakville Upper Chehalis s.məš which is related to Cowlitz .smê΄c, the latter recorded by Boas and obviously phonetically identical or near-identical to the Oakville form. No etymological history can be established for this pair. Shuswap s.km̓ xís for ‘grizzly’ is related to Okanagan s.kmxíst for ‘black bear,’ as noted above. Again, the etymological history of these items is unclear. The element qeʔ in Spokane-Kalispel n.ɬám-qeʔ and Coeur d’Alene n.ɬámqeʔ for ‘black bear’ may be an old suffix for ‘head’ (cf. Proto-Salish -qin, Kuipers 2002:208), but beyond this highly speculative possibility nothing else is clear etymologcally. For Okanagan s.mx̌ -ikn̓ ‘grizzly’ and its counterparts in Spokane- Kalispel-Flathead and Coeur d’Alene see the discussion above, under s.mx̌ -ikn̓ . The remaining forms, such as Sechelt máyukʷ or Twana c̕íʔwəɬ are limited to one language each, and their etymological history is at this moment untraceable or, as in the case of Shuswap s-kʷl-eqs, the etymology is strictly language-internal.

5 Conclusions

A few concluding remarks are in order on the multitude of terms for ‘black bear’ and ‘grizzly.’ In the first place, and as observed repeatedly above, this rich variety is probably largely due to taboo replacement. In this connection one may mention the replacement of Proto-Indo-European *arktos ‘bear’ with terms that either mean ‘brown’ (e.g., English bear) or ‘honey-eater’ (Russian medvedy) in a number of its daughter languages (Arlotto 1972:201). Such taboo forms are either evasive, as in Shuswap kn-keknm or (probably) Columbian s.təm̓ tám̓ əl̕and its Skagit and Snohomish cognates, or they are descriptive, like Okanagan s.mx̌ -ikn̓ and its Spokane-Kalispel-Flathead and Coeur d’Alene cognates. Borrowings such as the Bella Coola forms ƛ̕a and nan may also be taboo-driven.

22 In the second place, and as Steve Egesdal (p.c.) points out correctly, there is no reason why black bears and grizzlies need to be treated together in an article like this, in spite of their obvious similarity and their close biological relationship. After all, from a traditional Salish cosmological and taxonomical view, they are probably not more closely related than say, coyotes and wolves, of which the former hold a much more prominent place in (Interior) Salish cosmology and mythology. In the same way, grizzlies are generally credited with greater spiritual power than black bears, and their awesome strength is universally recognized and respected. As Teit remarks with regard to the Thompson (Nlaka’pamux), “To kill black bear or cougar was considered no great feat; but the hunter who had killed, single-handed, grisly and especially silver-tip bear, was highly respected for his courage; and for this reason many young men hunted the grisly” (Teit 1900:249). There is of course, some lexical overlap between black bears and grizzlies, as shown by Okanagan s.kmxist and Shuswap s.km̓ xís, Shuswap kn-keknm and kəknm-eɬp and possibly Comox (Squamish, Lillooet, Columbian) míx̌ aɬ and Okanagan s.mx̌ -ikn̓ (plus cognates in Spokane-Kalispel-Flathead and Coeur d’Alene). However, this argument loses strength in light of the fact that the Samish, Lower Chehalis and one of the Oakville Upper Chehalis terms for grizzly refer to various felines, proving that there is no pre-established lexical link between terms for black bear and grizzly. It is precisely the point of this article to show that such a link does not exist, and that what the terms for black bear and grizzly have in common is actually a complex pattern of lexical divergences, due to borrowing from a non-Salish source or, perhaps, a now lost non-Salish substratum, with new formations, probably as a result of tabooing, also playing a major role in the rich variety of terms for these two animals.

6 Dedication

This paper is dedicated to Brent Galloway, on the occasion of his retirement from First Nations University of Canada, after many years of service to the study and preservation of Salish languages, and to honour the recent publication of his massive two-volume dictionary of Upriver Halkomelem. I hope that my paper reflects at least some of Brent’s unstinting commitment to scrupulous scholarship and meticulous linguistic analysis. Where I have faltered in my paper, I have done so on my own accord, but where I have succeeded it is because I have been led by Brent’s inspiring example.

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24 ——. 2002. Salish Etymological Dictionary. Missoula, Montana: University of Montana Occasional Papers in Linguistics No. 16. Lincoln, Neville J., and John C. Rath. 1980. North Wakashan Comparative Root List. Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Series Paper No. 68. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada Mattina, Anthony. 1987. Colville-Okanagan Dictionary. Missoula, Montana: University of Montana Occasional Papers in Linguistics No. 5. Mitchell, Marjorie R. 1968. ‘A Dictionary of Songish, a Dialect of Straits Salish.’ M.A. thesis, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. Montler, Timothy R. 1991. Saanich, North Straits Salish, Classified Word List. Mercury Series, Ethnology Service Paper No. 119. Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization. ——. 2000. ‘Klallam Classified Word List.’ Posted online at: http://www.ling.unt.edu/montler/Klallam/WordList/ Nater, Hank. 1977. Stem List of the Bella Coola Language. Lisse, The Netherlands: Peter de Ridder Press. ——. 1990. A Concise Nuxalk-English Dictionary. Mercury Series, Ethnology Service Paper No. 115. Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization. Reichard, Gladys A. 1939. ‘Stem-List of the Coeur d’Alene Language.’ IJAL 11:92-108. Rockwell, David. 2008. čɬq̓ étkʷ ntx̣ʷétkʷs ʔaˑkinmituk: The Lower Flathead River. Pablo, Montana: Tribal History Project. Teit, James A. 1900. The Thompson Indians of British Columbia. New York: Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. I, part IV. Reprinted by AMS Press, 1975. Thompson, Laurence C., and M. Terry Thompson. 1996. Thompson River Salish Dictionary. Missoula, Montana: University of Montana Occasional Papers in Linguistics No. 12. Timmers, Jan A. 1977. A Classified English-Sechelt Word-List. Lisse, The Netherlands: Peter de Ridder Press. Vogt, Hans. 1940. The Kalispel Language. Oslo: Det Norske Videnskaps- Akademi.

Jan P. van Eijk [email protected]

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